As patriots wise and good

Verse 1
As patriots wise and good
Fir’d for the nation’s weal,
Th’ ambitious, covetous, and proud
Their base designs conceal:
Their credit, wealth, and power
T’ insure is all their aim,
And when the wolves thy flock devour,
They use religion’s name.

Verse 2
Religion is their care,
Yet still themselves they seek,
The temple of the Lord they are,
Yet thus their actions speak
“Let truth and justice die
“With every righteous one,
“So we may live, install’d on high,
“And rule the church alone.[”]

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.’—[John 11,] v. 50." This hymn appears in the 1763-64 manuscript “MS John.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/573, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 11 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 482.
Publishing: Public Domain